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Past ultraviolet radiation environments in lakes derived from fossil pigments

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Abstract

Natural levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation can harm organisms inshallow aquatic ecosystems in which concentrations of photo-protective dissolved organic carbon are low1,2,3. These compounds can be removed as a result of acidic precipitation and climate changes, an effect which may have recently been manifested in up to 200,000 boreal lakes4,5. Unfortunately, meteorological and biological monitoring studies are usually too brief to record the magnitudes of past changes in UV radiation fluxes and their effects. Here we demonstrate that certain fossil pigments in lake sediments can be used to document historical changes in the UV radiation environment of lakes. These pigments are produced by benthic algae when exposed to UV radiation and show sedimentary concentrations that are correlated to the depth of penetration of UV radiation within lakes. Analysis of fossil profiles from the sediments of two mountain lakes suggests that past UV radiation penetration has sometimes been—at least in these mid-latitude lakes—greater than during the period of anthropogenic stratospheric ozone depletion.

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Figure 1: a–c, Absorbance spectra, production and distribution of ultraviolet-radiation-specific pigments isolated from mountain lakes.
Figure 2: a, Concentration of fossil UV-radiation-specific pigments (compounds A and B) as a function of time in Lake 302.
Figure 3: Concentrations of labile8,19 fossil pigments (top, fucoxanthin; bottom, chlorophyll a) in Lake 302S were correlated (P < 0.05) to the biomass of their respective algal populations between 1978 and 1990.
Figure 4: Figure 4 Regional increases in penetration of UV radiation in Snowflake Lake (top) and Pipit Lake (bottom) following droughts in western Canada25,26, indicated by elevated concentration of UV-radiation-specific pigment (compound A) from ∼1850 to ∼1900.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Limnology Laboratory, University of Regina, Regina, S4S 0A2, Saskatchewan, Canada

    Peter R. Leavitt & Rolf D. Vinebrooke

  2. Ecosystems Division, Environment Canada, Regina, S4P 4K1, Saskatchewan, Canada

    David B. Donald

  3. Department of Biology, Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Laboratory, Queen's University, Kingston, K7L 3N6, Ontario, Canada

    John P. Smol

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E9, Alberta, Canada

    David W. Schindler

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  1. Peter R. Leavitt
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  2. Rolf D. Vinebrooke
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  5. David W. Schindler
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Correspondence to Peter R. Leavitt.

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Leavitt, P., Vinebrooke, R., Donald, D. et al. Past ultraviolet radiation environments in lakes derived from fossil pigments. Nature 388, 457–459 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/41296

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